[Ed. note: This article is part of our series of weekly reflections, called Deep Down Things, published on Wednesdays.]
A shoot shall come out from the
stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his
roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear
of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the
Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears here;
but with righteousness he shall judge the
poor,
and decide with equity for the meek
of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of
his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he
shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around
his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the
kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling
together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together,
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the
hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its
hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the
knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
- Isaiah 11:1-9 (NRSV)
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